New FICO Analytic Solution Helps Banks Ensure Compliance and Improve Performance of Predictive Models

NEW YORK, Nov. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- FICO World Conference -- FICO (NYSE: FICO), the leading provider of analytics and decision management technology, today announced the general availability of FICO® Model Central Solution – a comprehensive offering to help banks and other organizations, including insurance, retail and health care companies, maximize the power of their predictive models and meet stricter regulations for model management.  

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Regulators such as the OCC in the U.S. and the international Basel Committee on Banking Supervision have been issuing more stringent analytic model mandates, trying to improve banks' chances of long-term viability and success by demanding that existing and new models deliver the maximum predictive power to better manage credit risk. Banks are struggling to satisfy the volume of new regulatory requests and the demands for increased rigor around tracking and audit requirements. With limited IT and analytic resources, many are under pressure to improve overall financial performance while ensuring compliance with these new provisions.

FICO® Model Central Solution provides a complete environment for managing predictive models in a reliable, automated and integrated way. It presents a management dashboard of overall model health, alerting personnel to performance degradation so they can take action before business decisions are impacted. It also creates a standardized process for easy management and monitoring of models, which can number in the thousands for large lenders, and deploys new models quickly and efficiently – up to 50 percent faster – for improved time to value and return on investment.

Furthermore, FICO® Model Central Solution coordinates model validation, task tracking and management reporting, storing complete and annotated audit trails to satisfy compliance requirements. It integrates models from various programming languages into one environment, further saving time and IT resources. It also improves business outcomes dramatically with the integration of simulation and testing capabilities and optimization of decisions.

"Financial institutions globally are under tremendous pressure to comply with regulatory requirements around predictive model management and are demanding better solutions for validation, monitoring and reporting," said Frank Bria, research director at TowerGroup, a Corporate Executive Board company.  "Further, banks that institute an analytic environment with technology for more precise decisioning will be best positioned to compete."

"No other offering on the market today takes as holistic a view of an organization's model environment as FICO Model Central Solution," said Andrew Jennings, chief analytics officer at FICO and head of FICO Labs. "Combining rapid development and deployment, the rigor of audit tracking and decision optimization creates real value for our clients as they meet the challenges of regulatory audits and the need for increased precision in their lending decisions."

About FICO

FICO (NYSE:FICO) delivers superior predictive analytics solutions that drive smarter decisions. The company's groundbreaking use of mathematics to predict consumer behavior has transformed entire industries and revolutionized the way risk is managed and products are marketed. FICO's innovative solutions include the FICO® Score — the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the United States — along with industry-leading solutions for managing credit accounts, identifying and minimizing the impact of fraud, and customizing consumer offers with pinpoint accuracy. Most of the world's top banks, as well as leading insurers, retailers, pharmaceutical companies and government agencies, rely on FICO solutions to accelerate growth, control risk, boost profits and meet regulatory and competitive demands. FICO also helps millions of individuals manage their personal credit health through www.myFICO.com. Learn more at www.fico.com. FICO: Make every decision count™.

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Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Information

Except for historical information contained herein, the statements contained in this news release that relate to FICO or its business are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the success of the Company's Decision Management strategy and reengineering plan, the maintenance of its existing relationships and ability to create new relationships with customers and key alliance partners, its ability to continue to develop new and enhanced products and services, its ability to recruit and retain key technical and managerial personnel, competition, regulatory changes applicable to the use of consumer credit and other data, the failure to realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisitions, continuing material adverse developments in global economic conditions, and other risks described from time to time in FICO's SEC reports, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2010 and its last quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2011. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes, FICO's results could differ materially from its expectations. FICO disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

FICO and "Make every decision count" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and in other countries.

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